like @George_San_Jose1 mentioned below, its a bit ambiguous , it isnt as yellow as if i were to stick it right behind the exhaust( i tried that), but it def changes color. leads me to believe its failing perhaps? i do see bubbles coming out of radiator, which i had assumed was due to air still being trapped in the cooling system. no melting plastic on any of the caps or hoses that i have inspected. ive been keeping an eye out for white smoke constantly when driving but havent noticed anything. maybe i will have someone follow me to confirm or not
From my experience, air bubbles get purged after a couple of warm-ups/cool-downs. If they keep forming, then they are introduced somewhere, and the most common source is head gasket. If intake manifold is water-cooled, manifold gasket is yet another possibility but since there is no combustion pressure, itās more likely to leak coolant either externally or internally into the cylinders with air flow. The former would be visible and the latter would result in white smoke, both would cause coolant loss which is not the case.
Next - less common - cracked head and finally rare but not unique - cracked block.
In any case, if you decide to replace the head gasket, make sure the machine shop 1. resurfaces it and 2. checks for cracks.
Ironically, chrysler in its infinite wisdom declared cracks between valve ports of its infamous 2.2 ānormalā. No kidding.
cmon man lol, i was trying to fix it myself. ive replced the gasket in a 02 blazer, 07 camry and 11 caddillac and was going to move forward with doing it to my car
You misunderstood me - I am all for DIY! Despite s-storm from āprofessionalsā who even managed to get me banned for a couple of weeks for undermining their expertise and integrity.
But (BUT!) certain stuff requires special equipment even I donāt have simply because itās not feasible to buy unless itās constantly used. Head resurfacing and crack checking fall into that category.
When I had the gaskets replaced on my diesel, the heads were just sent to the Napa. Machine shop where they magna fluxed the heads for cracks and checked for flatness and maybe resurfaced them . Been a long time now. Donāt remember the cost but not earth shattering compared with the final bill. Either $1000 or $2000. I was at Disney while they worked on it so Iām not sure anymore which was cheaper.
- List item
An aluminum head canāt be magnafluxed.
Tester
Bing said he had a dieselā¦ If I remember correctly it was a GM diesel which would have cast iron heads that can be magnafluxed.
At this point I would not blame the head gasket. No reason to hit the panic button just yet. There are other tests for head gasket issues. Compression, vacuum test, etc, etc.
I might ask again what the pressure is on the high side of the A/C compressor while at elevated RPMs since you stated this overheating occurred after a compressor replacement?
Did this shop replace the accumulator and flush the system out at the same time?
Some may remember (a few years ago???) where someone with an overheating Subaru was quoted some godawful figure (5 or 6 grand??) to replace the head gaskets which got the blame and it turned out to be a dragging radiator fan motor or something like that.
Could be a transmission overheating. Check the color of the trans fluid.
The vehicle has a transmission fluid temp sensor.
Tester
Many of the air conditioning complaints that I see are cause by engine overtemperature, the computer will switch off the compressor when the coolant reaches 250 degrees F. I think the A/C repair was a misdiagnosis.
youre saying this would tell me its overheating right?
i really did have this run thru my head this whole time. its too late to do anything about THAT now. in retrospect, my engine never got hot before the AC compressor change. My ac would stop working as i would be driving around, i found revving engine at stop signs would sometimes get it going again, but never sign of overheating in my car
Not only you, but the computer also.
Which would turn on the Check Engine Light.
Tester
Does your lower radiator hose have a spring in it to keep it from collapsing at speed? Some had no spring and some had iron springs that rusted out. Radiator flow rates can be tested with the proper equipment. Some water pumps had rotor blades that eroded away. I had a similar problem a couple of times in a Toyota Cressida caused by leaks in the vacuum hoses in the climate control system, once in a vacuum hose connector and once at the climate control unit under the dash.
No one has suggested this yet and you have not done this. I would remove the reservoir and clean it completely, especially the tube molded in the side that connects to the small hose that goes just below the radiator cap. Also make sure that hose is clear and the bib that the hose attaches to is also clear.
You could have something in there that is acting like a one way valve that allows coolant to go into the reservoir but does not allow it to go back as the vehicle cools down.
You may have a hose in your cap to the reservoir that dips into the coolant instead of a molded tube, but that is unlikely in newer vehicles. If it is supposed to have this type of hose and it is missing, that could also be your problem.